Meet the Front Range Climbing Stewards

Meet the Front Range Climbing Stewards

In the spring of 2014 we managed to raise enough funds to start the Front Range Climbing Stewards (FRCS). The FRCS is a full time team of five hard working trail building professionals who work with volunteers to make trails to climbing areas more sustainable for years to come.

Who we are: We’re climbers. All of us have logged a lot of hours as volunteer and professional trail builders. We mix the mentality of a climber with the technical knowledge of a backcountry stone mason.

What we do: Climbing access trails, like climbers, can be a little different. Due to the terrain next to crags, we focus on stone structures. We build a lot of stone stairs, retaining structures, crib walls, and staging areas for climbs.

How we work: We’re adept at selecting and shaping stone. Once we’ve found material to work with, we’ve got some tricks to move it exactly where we want it. We frequently use rigging techniques to move heavy rocks – besides being ridiculously fun, it lets us work with a smaller crew and do minimal damage to the surrounding slopes.

Philosophy: At its heart FRCS is a conservation program – a community of climbers working to mitigate the impacts of our pursuits on the environment. By coming together to provide sustainable solutions to the problems of our impacts we are assuring the right to access our climbing resources.